Combinatorial libraries and “panning” methods are important tools in biotechnology. Despite advances in combinatorial libraries and “panning” methods, however, further advances are needed, particularly advances which provide for commercialization and better versatility. For example, combinatorial libraries which are generated for purposes of research and applications in biotechnology, including immunology and protein chemistry, may not be considered applicable to materials applications. In particular, the fabrication and commercialization of inorganic materials such as, for example, semiconductor, magnetic, or metallic materials are not generally associated with biotechnology or immunology. In general, use of biological self-assembly, specific recognition, and other biomimetic type processes has been limited in the materials arts.
In early efforts, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,922 to Brown purports to describe methods for identifying and expressing proteins that recognize and adhere to specific probes. See, also, Brown, S., Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci., 89, 8651 (1992). The work, however, focused on gram-negative bacterial surface display. Other efforts by Belcher et al. have described use of phage display systems for selective recognition against crystalline inorganic surfaces and, more generally, surfaces of technological usefulness. Despite the advantages of phage systems, however, cell systems can provide advantages over phage systems including, for example, the display of relatively large, complex biomolecules at relatively high copy numbers. In addition, growth and expression generally can be better regulated, and cell growth can be more versatile.